Granted Patent B2

US 12,340,386 · App. 17/654,688 · Granted Jun 24, 2025

Inventors: Jeff Ayars (Geneva, IL); Ruslan Gilfanov (Mountain View, CA); Jeff Holden (Chicago, IL); John M. Nickels (Chicago, IL); Pete Prokopowicz (Oak Park, IL); Dan Roarty (Chicago, IL); David Thacker (Burlingame, CA)

Assignee: BYTEDANCE INC.

G06Q30/0211G06Q30/0242G06Q30/0254G06Q30/0257G06Q30/0275

Abstract

Claims (63)

1. A method comprising:

receiving, via a network, a request to provide an electronic communication, wherein the electronic communication is associated with a particular medium;

selecting an electronic communication template based on the particular medium, the electronic communication template comprising a plurality of content slots, wherein each of the plurality of content slots is configured to receive and display at least a portion of content received from a content generator;

maintaining a database comprising a plurality of content generators, each of the plurality of content generators comprising respective content selection logic and assignment preference logic configured to generate targeted content;

determining, using a processor and before generation or selection of content, in real-time on a slot-by-slot basis, a selected content generator of the plurality of content generators for supplying the content for each content slot of the plurality of content slots in the electronic communication template based at least in part on determining a score for each content generator based on one or more selection parameters using one or more scoring algorithms, wherein at least one selected content generator is a first content generator configured for non-promotion content for a first content slot, and wherein the non-promotion content generated by the first content generator is determined by:

examining consumer information present for a target consumer,

determining consumer information missing for the target consumer,

determining which missing consumer information, if possessed, would most improve future electronic communications targeted to the target consumer, and

generating the non-promotion content to request the missing consumer information with a highest expected value;

receiving, subsequent to the determination of the selected content generator for each of the content slots of the plurality of content slots, the content for each of the content slots of the plurality of content slots generated or selected by each of the selected content generators, wherein the content is based at least in part on the content selection logic of the particular selected content generator; and

generating the electronic communication displaying each of the received contents selected by each of the selected content generators.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the selected content generator for each of the content slots of the plurality of content slots comprises:

receiving two or more selection parameters associated with the request to provide the electronic communication; and

scoring each content generator based at least in part on a presence of a first selection parameter and an absence of a second selection parameter.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein scoring the plurality of content generators comprises receiving bids from the plurality of content generators.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the score for each content generator of the plurality of content generators is based on the respective assignment preference logic for that content generator.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one content slot of the plurality of content slots is configured to display a first content including a representative image, wherein the selection of the first content or the representative image causes displaying of additional information associated with the first content.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first content slot is configured to receive input, wherein interaction with the first content slot comprises providing information, wherein reception of the input causes the storing of the information as a value to an associated parameter of user information.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the electronic communication comprises:

determining, using the processor, and on a slot-by-slot basis, if the received content for each of the plurality of content slots requires formatting to display the received content for the particular medium associated with the electronic communication; and

formatting at least one of the received content for display.

8. An apparatus comprising at least one processor and a memory, the memory comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to configure the apparatus to:

receive, via a network, a request to provide an electronic communication, wherein the electronic communication is associated with a particular medium;

select an electronic communication template based on the particular medium, the electronic communication template comprising a plurality of content slots, wherein each of the plurality of content slots is configured to receive and display at least a portion of content received from a content generator;

maintain a database comprising a plurality of content generators, each of the plurality of content generators comprising respective content selection logic and assignment preference logic configured to generate targeted content;

determine, using a processor and before generation or selection of content, in real-time on a slot-by-slot basis, a selected content generator of the plurality of content generators for supplying the content for each content slot of the plurality of content slots in the electronic communication template based at least in part on determining a score for each content generator based on one or more selection parameters using one or more scoring algorithms, wherein at least one selected content generator is a first content generator configured for non-promotion content for a first content slot, and wherein the non-promotion content generated by the first content generator is determined by:

examining consumer information present for a target consumer,

determining consumer information missing for the target consumer,

determining which missing consumer information, if possessed, would most improve future electronic communications targeted to the target consumer, and

generating the non-promotion content to request the missing consumer information with a highest expected value;

receive, subsequent to the determination of the selected content generator for each of the content slots of the plurality of content slots, the content for each of the plurality of content slots generated or selected by each of the selected content generators, wherein the content is based at least in part on the content selection logic of the particular selected content generator; and

generate the electronic communication displaying each of the received contents selected by each of the selected content generators.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein determining the selected content generator for each content slot comprises:

receiving two or more selection parameters associated with the request to provide the electronic communication; and

scoring each content generator based at least in part on a presence of a first selection parameter and an absence of a second selection parameter.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein scoring the plurality of content generators comprises receiving bids from the plurality of content generators.

11. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the score for each content generator of the plurality of content generators is based on the respective assignment preference logic for that content generator.

12. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein at least one content slot of the plurality of content slots is configured to display a first content including a representative image, wherein the selection of the first content or the representative image causes displaying of additional information associated with the first content.

13. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the first content slot is configured to receive input, wherein interaction with the first content slot comprises providing information, wherein reception of the input causes the storing of the information as a value to an associated parameter of user information.

14. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein generating the electronic communication comprises:

determine, using the processor, and on a slot-by-slot basis, if the received content for each of the plurality of content slots requires formatting to display the received content for the particular medium associated with the electronic communication; and

format at least one of the received content for display.

15. A non-transitory computer readable medium, the non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to configure an apparatus to:

receive, via a network, a request to provide an electronic communication, wherein the electronic communication is associated with a particular medium;

select an electronic communication template based on the particular medium, the electronic communication template comprising a plurality of content slots, wherein each of the plurality of content slots is configured to receive and display at least a portion of content received from a content generator;

maintain a database comprising a plurality of content generators, each of the plurality of content generators comprising respective content selection logic and assignment preference logic configured to generate targeted content;

determine, using the processor and before generation or selection of content, in real-time, on a slot-by-slot basis, a selected content generator of the plurality of content generators for supplying the content for each content slot of the plurality of content slots in the electronic communication template based at least in part on determining a score for each content generator based on one or more selection parameters using one or more scoring algorithms, wherein at least one selected content generator is a first content generator configured for non-promotion content for a first content slot, and wherein the non-promotion content generated by the first content generator is determined by:

examining consumer information present for a target consumer,

determining consumer information missing for the target consumer,

determining which missing consumer information, if possessed, would most improve future electronic communications targeted to the target consumer, and

generating the non-promotion content to request the missing consumer information with a highest expected value;

receive, subsequent to the determination of the selected content generator for each of the content slots of the plurality of content slots, the content for each of the plurality of content slots generated or selected by each of the selected content generators, wherein the content is based at least in part on the content selection logic of the particular selected content generator; and

generate the electronic communication displaying each of the received contents selected by each of the selected content generators.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15 , wherein determining the selected content generator for each content slot comprises:

receiving two or more selection parameters associated with the request to provide the electronic communication; and

scoring each content generator based at least in part on the presence of a first selection parameter and an absence of a second selection parameter.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16 , wherein scoring the plurality of content generators comprises receiving bids from the plurality of content generators.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16 , wherein the score for each content generator of the plurality of content generators is based on the respective assignment preference logic for that content generator.

19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15 , wherein at least one content slot of the plurality of content slots is configured to display a first content including a representative image, wherein the selection of the first content or the representative image causes displaying of additional information associated with the first content.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the first content slot is configured to receive input, wherein interaction with the first content slot comprises providing information, wherein reception of the input causes the storing of the information as a value to an associated parameter of user information.

21. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15 , wherein generating the electronic communication comprises:

determine, using the processor, and on a slot-by-slot basis, if the received content for each of the plurality of content slots requires formatting to display the received content for the particular medium associated with the electronic communication; and

format at least one of the received content for display.

Assignments (2)

Continuity (3)

References Cited (161)